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Multicenter Study
. 2019 Jul:96:104-108.
doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2019.04.033. Epub 2019 May 21.

Seizure severity is associated with poor quality of life in people living with epilepsy (PLWE) in Uganda: A cross-sectional study

Mark Kaddumukasa  1 , Levicatus Mugenyi  2 , Samden Lhatoo  3 , Nelson Sewankambo  4 , Carol Blixen  5 , Martha Sajatovic  6 , Elly Katabira  7
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Seizure severity is associated with poor quality of life in people living with epilepsy (PLWE) in Uganda: A cross-sectional study

Mark Kaddumukasa et al. Epilepsy Behav. 2019 Jul.

Abstract

Rationale: There is a paucity of information about the association of seizure severity and quality of life (QoL) in people living with epilepsy (PLWE) in sub-Saharan Africa. We evaluated the relationship between seizure severity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with epilepsy being followed up in an outpatient neurology clinic in urban central Uganda.

Methods: Forty-eight PLWE who met the study inclusion criteria were enrolled. The study questionnaire was comprised of the Chalfont Seizure Severity Scale (CSSS) and the Quality of Life Inventory in Epilepsy (QOLIE-31). Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used to determine the association between seizure severity and QoL score.

Results: The median age of the study participants was 25 years, with median age (interquartile range (IQR)) of epilepsy onset of 12 (6-18) years. Over 57.4% of the study participants were unemployed. The mean (standard deviation (SD)) of QOLIE-31 and Seizure Severity Score was 62.5 (14.5) and 62.4 (1.6), respectively. There was no gender difference in the seizure severity scores (p = 0.451). An inverse relationship existed between seizure severity and the total QOLIE-31 score (Spearman's rank correlation coefficient, r = -0.48, p = 0.001), and seizure worry (r = -0.31, p = 0.030).

Conclusions: In this Ugandan sample, seizure severity is unacceptably high and directly impacts the life of PLWE. Interventions that reduce seizure severity are urgently needed in our settings to reduce seizures and improve the QoL in PLWE.

Keywords: Epilepsy; Quality of life; Seizure; Severity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests - The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Showing the relationship between seizure frequency and the median Chalfont seizure severity score
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Showing the relationship between the Chalfont seizure severity score and subscales of the QOLIE-31
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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